Cover girl: The 24-year-old six-foot-two-inch Australian model stars on the March cover of Australia's Cosmopolitan magazine, opening up about her initial struggles in the industry

However, after landing the cover of
Italian Vogue and French Elle in 2011 and then a Ralph Lauren campaign in 2012, she said the industry is slowly becoming more accepting over models that don't fit into the size zero ideal.

'The
industry was different back then. Now everyone’s nicer; they’ve realized
it works better,' said Miss Lawley, who is currently taking silversmith lessons while also DJing and preparing for the launch of her first cookbook in early 2015.

RELATED ARTICLES

Share this article

Share

It was negative attitudes to her size
that forced Miss Lawley to take a hiatus from modelling at 17.

'After I quit I moved
overseas for a gap year. When I came back, that’s when I gave it another
go, because I’d found out about "plus-size" models,' she said, adding that it's a term she isn't a fan of.

'It puts women down and it
puts a label on them,' she said.

'The
industry was different [in 2010]. Now everyone’s nicer; they’ve realized
it works better'

In
a recent interview with Clique magazine, the six-foot-two-inch Australian emphasized
her bemusement at being considered 'plus-size'- despite being the owner of a toned, healthy body.

'People
think plus-size models don't exercise - we do!' she told the magazine. 'But it's
about health, not forcing my body to be something it's not meant to be.'

She admitted that as a teenager she tried to slim down to satisfy the demands of mainstream modeling, but said that even though she was starving herself, achieving size zero proved impossible.

Recently, the size 12 model appeared in a Chantelle lingerie campaign aimed at women of all sizes

Miss Lawley shows off her curves on the beach in Australia (left) and on the cover of Clique magazine (right)

'Even at my lightest, I just couldn't get
there,' she explains. 'I genuinely really tried. I was counting
calories, I was taking diet pills, I was dabbling in starvation.

'I thought you had to be skinny to be beautiful. And I thought I would never be beautiful at this size.'

Since giving calorie-counting the boot, Miss Lawley has shot to fame and has followed in the footsteps of fellow high-profile models, Crystal Renn and Sophie Dahl - both of whom are as much admired for their curves as they are for their beauty.

Although she was recently signed by Mango to
front its new plus-size range, Violetta, which starts at a size 12, Miss Lawley is irritated that the industry
continues to see her as only catering to a 'niche' market.

'People say, "How is she a plus-size model?" and I'm like, "Exactly, this is the point, how am I a plus-size model?" she said.